Valkyrie

Chapter 13

I drifted for a while, unsure which way was up and which way was down. I would get flashes of sound and sensation before Alexi's blue eyes would flash white again, pushing me back out of my body and into the nothing with all of the subtlety of a sledgehammer to the frontal lobe. I don't know how long I was out before I came to fully, lying on my side on something much softer than Alexi's desk. I'd slept in this room before after a night of too much drinking. It was deep in the catacombs under Purgatory. If I turned over, I'd see a small bathroom done in tasteful shades of creamy white and stark black. Turning over would require the kind of maneuvering that I didn't currently have the energy for since both of my wings were out, lying on the bed behind me. It was a big bed. I'd joked once that it was orgy sized. Whistler asked if I was offering, Alexi stepping between us right before I cut the ginger vamp's nuts off. They would have grown back eventually.

I lay there for a few minutes and stared at a smooth, white wall broken up by a closed, white door and took stock of myself. The burning pain in my wing was completely gone. I felt a numb spot and a little stiff but there was no pain. I was tired and hungry but it was nothing I didn't normally feel. I took a deep breath and smelled vampire and concrete with a chaser of rainy pine and familiar Alpha energy. A pale shadow of the usual desire that rose up in me when he was around reared its head but I was able to easily push it away for now. I was sure it would come roaring back once I was more awake and feeling stronger. Right then, I felt about as strong as a day-old pup.

"Doc?" I tried to say but nothing came out. I cleared my throat and tried again. "Doc?" There. That was better. I sounded like a bullfrog but at least I'd been able to get something out.

The creak of a chair behind me than Trey's face came into my field of vision as he knelt down next to the bed, lines of worry creasing the skin beside his eyes, his jaw clenched tight enough I could hear his back teeth grinding together. His eyebrows were drawn down into that familiar little frown. I wanted to smooth the lines away but I kept my hand to myself where it belonged.

"How are you feeling?" he asked.

"Stiff but fine," I said. "So, relax. You're going to break your teeth if you keep grinding them like that." He gave me a small, tired smile, no dimple. "I'm not letting you out of wedding planning that easily." He gave me a full smile this time with both dimples. A knot loosened in my chest even as I cursed myself for being the worst kind of fool. I didn't like seeing him worried so I'd said the only thing I could think of to wipe some of that pinched expression away.

I moved to push myself to a sit but Trey quickly stood, holding a hand out to me. I stared at it for a beat or two before I took it, letting him pull me up, his mercury stare intense. His hand was warm as it practically swallowed mine. He held it for a few seconds, his thumb brushing against the skin on the back of my hand before he let go.

We're not going to talk about how him letting me go made my chest ache again.

"Thanks," I said once I was sitting on the side of the bed, my head swimming a little and my wings spread out behind me. I could feel the spot where I assumed the fragments of the bullet had lodged and spilled their liquid silver into my system. Each feather felt loose, like they were getting ready to fall out. Thankfully it felt like it was only a few of the lesser coverts on the bottom edge of the row and not any of my primaries. They'd grow back soon enough and they weren't essential for flying. I rubbed my face with my hands, unsure if it was still the same night or a new night. My internal clock was out of whack from Alexi messing around with my head. Which had hurt. A lot. Not as bad as the silver but still. I felt like I had a hungover. I really needed a drink.